A/N: This chapter brings this short story to an end. Thank you for reading!
A Curious Combination
Chapter 4
…Early fall, 2016…
In the shadows of the advancing night, Sara checked the locks on doors, moving silently through the house. In the small alcove they were using as a nursery, she checked on her children. Thomas was lying on his back, arms and legs spread like the Vitruvian man. For a moment, she paused—how like his father he was.
Turning to the second baby bed, she found Will to be upside down, his bottom sticking in the air, his head almost touching his knees. As usual, she marveled that he had not suffocated but weeks ago, he had chosen to sleep in a ball while his brother spread to four corners. And in that one way he was like his mother.
Before leaving, she closed the window blinds as tightly as possible hopeful the darkness would add a few moments of sleep for her babies. She did the same with the thick curtains that separated the nursery nook from the bedroom.
The small space had served multiple purposes—Grissom had used it as an office area at one time but he had decided it would be the best place for their infant sons.
She heard the shower as she folded covers back on the wide bed. For months they had kept two small infant cots on each side of their bed. Gone now, stored away for the tiny possibility of another baby; Sara smiled. She was hopeful, even at her 'advanced age' that her fertility would work the miracle of another baby.
As she prepared for bed, enjoying the intimacy of a married couple and with the sense of awe of lovers, Sara, dressed in a long cotton shirt, sat on the bed—waiting.
A few minutes later, Grissom came out of the bathroom wearing only a white towel around his waist. His hair was wet from the shower, tousled, drops of water on his shoulders and arms. Sara looked at him, quickly looking away, realizing how much she loved this man—and literally lusted after him.
Smiling, she tried to think of a food she enjoyed as much as she enjoyed him.
When she giggled, Grissom turned saying: "What's so funny?"
He finger combed his wet hair which immediately sprang up as it tended to do in soft curls. He said, "One day, I'm going to go to a barber and get a crew cut or totally shaved."
Sara made a shocked face. "No, you wouldn't, would you? The boys have your hair."
This was a running joke with them; the twins had soft ringlets of brown curls much like Sara's. She got off the bed and threaded her fingers through his hair. "I love your hair just the way it is." Laughing, she kissed him suddenly, and as his arms went around her, his towel dropped to the floor.
They laughed again as she picked up the towel before he could and dried his shoulders and chest.
"I'm still damp here," he murmured as she moved the towel downward.
Sara dropped the towel and playfully pushed him toward the bed. She said, "Time for something else to happen."
Hurriedly, lights were turned out and Sara's shirt was thrown to the floor.
His voice low and husky, Grissom said, "You're sure we want to do this?"
"It may take a few times." She kissed him again, several times, before adding, "And it may not happen at all."
"There are other ways."
Sara's lips traced a line along her husband's jaw before coming to a stop near his mouth. Whispering, she said, "Three months—we'll try for three months. Three of the top docs in this city say I'm healed and healthy and fertile—so get it up, honey!" She giggled as he pressed against her.
"The boys won't wake up?"
"Nope," Sara whispered. "I gave them a sleeping pill."
She felt a silent chuckle from her husband. He said, "You're sure you want to do this—condoms are in the drawer."
"I'm sure and the time is right."
For days, they'd had this conversation because at their advanced age for parenthood, they had found they loved having children and, in the preceding weeks, their discussions about babies had turned to expanding their family. And with the recent approval of her physicians, the plan was in motion.
As Gil Grissom pulled his wife into his arms, as memory and desire mingled, time ceased to tick as he made her a part of himself. He knew the feel of her breasts and belly and buttocks; the folds and crevices of her intimate body. She was made for him just as he was for her.
His arms were around her as he looked into eyes filled with light and warmth and love, watched as her mouth opened, gasped, in pleasure. Moments later, his mind slipped into a brilliance as bright as the sun, knowing he never wanted to let her go in that moment of ecstasy.
…Two weeks later…
The palest blue sky overhead, a light, companionable breeze, and the beach spread out before them with glittering pools of water reflecting the evening sky. As far as the eye could see, rippling sand waited for the return of the tide.
Sara and Gil Grissom made their way along a path through the dunes. Attached to their chest were squirming babies, well aware of sounds and sights around them. A flock of birds caused little faces to tilt upward and both babies babbled, kicking legs and waving arms.
Sara glanced back, smiling at her husband as he slowed and watched the birds with his head tilted back in an almost perfect replication of his sons. Her grin turned into a giggle; the boys were reproductions and at some point in the preceding months, she had realized her babies were a curious combination of both parents.
She reached the beach first and waited for Grissom and Thomas to catch up.
"I love this place," she said, turning to the man she loved, taking his hand in hers.
With a practiced ease, they leaned together and kissed. In companionable silence, they crossed the beach while their two infants made noises that resembled the sounds of sea birds.
They splashed through tide pools to the water's edge, the sound of the distant waves rustling with energy. Cold water foamed over their feet as the tide began to inch in.
Sara took a deep breath, happy with life, and squeezed Grissom's hand.
She said, "I'm happier than I've ever been."
Grissom's arm went around her shoulders; the sound he made was one of agreement.
They watched the water swirl around their feet and, at the same time, lifted their faces to the great expanse of sea and sky. Seagulls swooped low, looking for food or for entertainment. Will and Thomas made shouts of delight as the birds whirled and plummeted in a magic dance.
For a moment, Sara was aware of a rushing sensation within and around her which seemed to fill her with warmth. She closed her eyes and, oddly, that was no darkness but light as if she was bathed in light within and without. She knew it was happiness in a way that illuminated the good of the world. She wouldn't change anything.
The End.
A/N: Thank you for reading. Thank you to those who send a comment or review. We always appreciate hearing from readers. And with Sara and Grissom returning to television, we hope to see more GSR on CSI this fall!
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